CA CA - Ashley Yamauchi, 33, San Rafael, 15 Dec 2008

Yamauchi's loved ones don't want people to forget that the 33-year-old mother was raped and strangled on Dec 16, 2008 before her body was found behind the 4th Street Tavern...

Castrillo said she was texting with Ashley that night and she seemed fine and was socializing in a familiar place with friends. But Yamauchi's body was found the next morning wedged between a car and a fence in the parking lot behind the tavern...

"We threw every resource that we had at it," said San Rafael police Sgt. Carl Huber. He said the unsolved case haunts and frustrates investigators, especially because suspect DNA degraded in the rain that fell that night.

Click to expand...

Yamauchi, a single mother and a resident of Greenbrae, was last seen alive on the night of Dec. 15, 2008 at the Fourth Street Tavern in downtown San Rafael. Police said she went out the back door with a man she had met at the bar, but the man’s identity is unknown...

Despite a $50,000 reward approved by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2010, no one has come forward with any useful information...

“Unfortunately, there is nothing new to report,” San Rafael Police Department Public Information Officer Margo Rohrbacher told The Rafu Shimpo on Tuesday. “The reward is still available, but no new promising leads.”

Click to expand...

JnRyan said:

The latest episode of "On the Case with Paula Zahn" covers Ashley's case. Still unsolved. Season 24, Episode 4, "Dark Clouds".

Click to expand...

JnRyan said:

The episode on "On The Case with Paula Zahn" indicates LE found the guy she was talking to at the bar and who she walked out the back door with. Apparently they moved on from him when he had no marks on him.

Click to expand...

Chypre said:

I just finished watching it. I'm not used to the accents and cadence of the local people (generally chill) , so I wanted to see reactions to the interview with the on and off again ex. I'm assuming he agreed to the interview. C

Click to expand...

lareportera said:

That was really so infuriating, since later they said oh well maybe the person we're looking for doesn't have scratches since the other guy didn't also. I also don't understand if they say she was sexually assaulted and retrieved "DNA", why that's not pointing to a killer, regardless if he's in CODIS or not. Or why if they found guy #1s DNA, they believe it was still a sexual assault. I feel like this last episode ID did on her was great, gave the most information ever released to the public about this case.

Click to expand...